Name: ________________________ Grade ____/100 (+5 bonus) Percent: _____
GY 112L Lab Assignment 5
Modes of Fossil Preservation
Note: In this lab we will begin to look at fossilized animals, plants, and their traces.
You will soon become very familiar with the various beasties that occur in
sedimentary rocks, but you have to start somewhere and this will be your first good
introduction to fossils. The first part of the lab will involve a lecture/show-and-tell
session. These samples will give you examples of some of the styles of preservation
that we discussed in the lecture(s).
Part A: Fossil preservation
The following specimens will be found in the labeled drawer in room LSCB 335.
They are labeled with purple numbers, and most are in boxes. Take care in handling
the specimens as some belong to various members of the department and can be
expensive to replace (translation: if you break our personal specimens you will be
killed). Please be careful not to mix up the specimens and their corresponding boxes.
This leads to confusion and your carelessness is unfair to the other students.
Sample 5-1: This is a rather nicely preserved specimen of Pectin, a bivalve collected
from Pensacola by a Marine Sciences Ph.D student. It is here to provide inspiration
for your first writing question: In the space below, briefly discuss some of the criteria
that can increase the chance of fossil preservation (refer to the web lecture on fossil
preservation for help in answering this question).
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________ [5 points]
i
Sample 5-2:
This specimen is another species of bivalve. What is its mode(s) of preservation?
_____________________________________________________ [3 points]
Sample 5-3:
This specimen has both leaf and fern imprints in it. What is the name of the rock that
contains it?
______________________________________________________[3 points]
What is the mode of preservation of the plant fossils?
_____________________________________________[3 points]
Specimen 5-4:
This rock is a fossiliferous limestone that is composed of nothing but shell fragments.
What is another sedimentary name for the rock?
_____________________________________________________ [3 points]
Notice that the rock contains some oysters and serpulid worm tubes (see sample 5-24
for comparisons). What term do we use to describe their modes of attachment?
_____________________________________________________ [3 points]
Specimen 5-5:
Box 5-5 contains two types of gastropod (snails). What are their mode(s) of
preservation?
_____________________________________________________ [3 points]
Question 5-6 (no specimens):
Compare and contrast trace fossils and body fossils.
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________ [4 points]
Specimen 5-7:
The specimen in box 5-7 is a brachiopod shell. What is its mode(s) of preservation of
the brachipod?
_____________________________________________ [3 points]
ii
Specimen 5-8:
What is the dominant form(s) of fossil preservation in rock 5-8?
_____________________________________________________ [3 points]
Specimen 5-9:
What general type of fossil is contained within specimen 5-9? (choose from trace or body
fossil)
_____________________________________________________ [3 points]
What can you say about the feeding preference of the beastie that left the fossil
behind in specimen 5-9 (e.g., did it burrow or crawl or swim or float to eat)?
_____________________________________________________ [3 points]
Specimen 5-10:
The specimens in box 5-10 are remnants of a gastropod and a bivalve shell. Do we
see the inside or outside of the fossils?
___________________________________ [2 points]
Specimen 5-11:
What material is this specimen composed of?
___________________________________________________[3 points]
What organisms or body parts are normally fossilized in this material?
________________________________________________[3 points]
Specimen 5-12:
This box contains a bivalve and a piece of colonial coral. What are their mode(s) of
preservation?
___________________________________________________[2 points]
What mineral are the beasties composed of? ________________________[3 points]
Specimen 5-13:
This specimen contains leaf imprints. What are their mode(s) of preservation?
___________________________________________________[3 points]
iii
Specimen 5-14:
What general type(s) of fossils are in specimen 14? (choose from trace or body fossil)
___________________________________________________[2 points]
What is the specific name of these fossils?
___________________________________________________[3 points]
What kind of sedimentary rock are they are preserved in?
___________________________________________________[2 points]
Specimen 5-15:
What general type of fossil is specimen 5-15? (choose from trace or body fossil)
___________________________________________[2 points]
What is the name of the rock that contains the fossil?
______________________________________ [2 points]
Specimen 5-16:
This specimen is a piece of petrified wood. What mode(s) of preservation has
occurred?
_____________________________________________ [2 points]
Specimen 5-17:
This specimen is a biochemical sedimentary rock that contains bryozoans and
brachipods, beasties that used calcite to construct their body parts.(Ask for help in
identifying these beasties). What is the rock name?
_____________________________________________________ [2 points]
What are the mode(s) of preservation of the fossils?
_________________________________________________ [2 points]
Specimen 5-18:
This specimen is yet another biochemical sedimentary rock with bivalve shells in it.
What is their mode(s) of preservation?
_____________________________________________________ [2 points]
iv
Specimen 5-19:
The rocks comprising this specimen retain evidence of several types of fossils. What
are their mode(s) of preservation of the fossils?
_____________________________________ [2 points]
Specimens 5-20a and 5-20b:
These two specimens are pieces of bone. One is an original porpoise vertebrae (520a) and the other is an isolated bone fragment (5-20b). What is the mode of
preservation of specimen number 5-20a?
__________________________________________ [2 points]
What is the mode of preservation of specimen number 5-20b?
________________________________________ [2 points]
What characteristics tell you specimen 5- 20b has been fossilized in this mode?
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________ [3 points]
Specimen 5-21:
Specimen 5-21 is a large ammonite. What is its mode(s) of preservation?
___________________________________________ [2 points]
Specimen 5-22:
Compare and contrast internal and external molds
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________ [5 points]
v
Name: ________________________________
Specimen 5-23:
This specimen is a biochemical sedimentary rock that contains bivalve shells and
turritella gastropods. What is the rock name?
_____________________________________________________ [2 points]
What is the mode(s) of preservation of the fossils?
_____________________________________________ [2 points]
Specimen 5-24:
These are the fossilized tubes of calcite precipitating worms called serpulids. The
worms secreted the tubes for protection from predators as they grew. They are not
body parts, so what type of fossils must they be?
_____________________________________________ [2 points]
Specimen 5-25:
This is the fossilized remains of a colonial coral. What do you call the mode(s) of
preservation?
______________________________________[2 points]
What mineral is responsible for this instance of fossilization?
______________________________________[2 points]
Bonus Questions: On your way home tonight (or to class tomorrow), stop by the
lobby of the Life Sciences Building that leads to the outside Lecture Hall and check
out the decorative stone that the builders (clever lads that they were) choose to line
the walls with. What kind of rock is it?
________________________________[2 points]
Do you see any fossils in the stone? If so, what are they and how are they preserved?
(there may be more than one type of fossil or one type preservation).
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________[3 points]
vi